The Axim District Magis¬trate’s Court presided over by Mr Emmanuel Nana Antwi-Barima has remanded four persons in prison custody for allegedly murdering one Nyaaba Fafra, a settler farmer at a village near Salma in the Nzema District of the Western Region. Nyaaba, who was a native of Bolgatanga, was alleged to have been murdered by Nenza Wangara, 65, and his wife, Amu Alua, 60; K. Paale aka Lobi, 38, a Burkinabe national; and Edmond Fobih, 50, all farmers in Salma. The court refused the suspects bail on grounds of the grave nature of the offence and also to enable the police to have enough time to do thorough investigations, that may include travelling to northern Ghana to locate the wife and children of Nyaaba. Nyaaba had his four fingers chopped off and his throat slashed when his body, which was in a state of decomposition, was found hidden about 50 metres from his house. According to a source, Nyaaba was allocated a farmland at Salma many years ago and had no problem until one day when one of the suspects, Fobih, went to him to claim ownership of the land. Fobih claimed that the one who gave Nyaaba the land erred in doing so, therefore he (Nyaaba) should see him (Fobih) as the owner of the land. According to the source, the claim by Fobih resulted in many arguments, as well as physical and verbal confrontations, between him and Nyaaba but the issue was resolved at the chief’s palace. Based on an agreement reached between the two parties, Fobih shared the land between Nyaaba and two of the suspects, Alua and Paale, but the problem persisted and the fights continued. Paale, Fobih and Alua were alleged to have demanded that Nyaaba, whose land was sandwiched by the two others, completely vacate his parcel of land but Nyaaba did not budge. For fear of her life and that of their two children, after many persuasions to convince her husband had failed, Nyaaba’s wife left the village for Bolgatanga. When contacted, the Takoradi Mobile Force Commander and the acting Axim District Commander, DSP Peter Ndekugrie, confirmed the story. He said Nyaaba’s body was discovered after his brother went to look for him because he had not seen him for sometime. He said upon reaching Nyaaba’s house, he found the door unlocked with the room untidy while a pot of soup in the room was found to be full of maggots. DSP’ Ndekugrie said aside that, the sack which the deceased used when going to the farm, also had a rotten bird and vegetables in it with his catapult on the ground. According to the district commander, the brother said he became alarmed and went to the house of his brother’s neighbour, Wangara, and the wife to ask if they knew the whereabouts of his brother but he did not meet Wangara. DSP Ndekugrie said the brother then informed the chief about the disappearance of Nyaaba and a search was conducted but there was no sign of him. He said on the advice of the chief they informed the police about the incident and after several hours of a search conducted by the police in the village, the decomposed body of Nyaaba was found. He said the police then arrested Alua, Paale and Fobih while Wangara, who went into hiding in a far village, was arrested later. Source: Daily Graphic